PRIME MINISTER:
Well, the budget turns the corner on debt and ensures that hard working Australian families can keep more of the money they earn. It reforms our personal income tax system that ensures that we guarantee the essential services that give older Australians the respect, the support and the choice they need.
It's a budget that delivers on the values and the commitments we made at the 2016 election and it's all enabled. Everything we're doing in this budget, from the bridges we're building to the tax relief we're providing, is enabled by stronger economic growth. Record jobs growth last year - the highest in our nation's history - and the lowest percentage of working age Australians on welfare in 25 years.
That's what you get from stronger economic growth. And that is the delivery of the national economic plan we set out two years ago at the election and we're continuing to deliver on it. And that is what Australians expect from us, the values and the commitment, stronger economic growth and the budget we've delivered last night.
JOURNALIST:
Prime Minister is this the budget that can win you the election?
PRIME MINISTER:
This is a budget that delivers for hard working Australian families and it is delivering for them in a very, very real way at a time when cost of living pressures are high and Australians need that support. It's not a give away as Labor says, and the Greens say, this is enabling hardworking Australian families to keep more of the money they have earned.
JOURNALIST:
You talked about the government's jobs growth record. What about the 3,500 refugees who will now have to wait much longer to get a help finding a job in Australia. What about migrants who will now have to wait longer to receive government assistance when they do arrive in Australia.
PRIME MINISTER:
Well our humanitarian program is one of the most generous in the world but we make no apologies for saying that it's the Australian government elected by the Australian people that determines which refugees come to Australia.
We are not going to do what Labor did - and would do again - which is outsource our my migration program and our borders to people smugglers. So we're not going to do that. We'll keep our borders secure we'll keep the boats stopped. Now as far as waiting periods, our migrants our permanent migrants that come through the system come as skilled migrants, overwhelmingly, and of course they come here on the basis that they are going to be employed.
They come here to meet the demands of our economy and it's only right that they should be working here for some time before they would become entitled to that type of benefit.
JOURNALIST:
Prime Minister, the small and medium income earners who would benefit from the tax cut once upon a time would have been called the Howard Battlers, they also just happen to be the swing voters you need to win the next election.
PRIME MINISTER:
Well look it is vitally important that all of those Australians benefit from that tax relief. Do you know over 10 million Australians who will benefit from this tax relief? The vast majority of Australian taxpayers are Australian workers and 4.4 million of them, in the middle income bracket, will be getting the benefit of that 530 dollar tax refund in the first year.
So that means you've got a couple say, you know a teacher and a nurse on middle incomes they will get collectively between them they get over a $1000. Now that is a really substantial assistance to the cost of living, to the household budget. Let's take one more perhaps take one more from you.
JOURNALIST:
Firstly, how confident are you that you will be able to convince the crossbench to support your tax plan now that Labor and the Greens say that they will not. Also what is the likelihood that you will call an early election?
PRIME MINISTER:
You should expect the election to be at the due date, as I've said, which is in the first half of next year and yes we will of course continue to work with the crossbench. It is always a matter of discussion and negotiation but I think this tax plan is a very compelling one. In the first instance, right now, it provides really important tax relief for hardworking Australian families and as I just said 10 million Australian taxpayers will benefit from it. 4.4 million taxpayers will get the $530 refund and that's taxpayers right in the middle income brackets.
But longer term, think about this; you know we've had a tax system for years that has had one bracket after another and people have always said, I'm sure many of you have said it yourself, oh I've got a raise already and moved on to a better job, earning some more money, but I've got to pay more going into a higher tax bracket and so much of it is being lost in tax.
We will have a tax system where, from $41,000 right up to $200,000 you won't pay more than 32.5 cents for any extra dollar you earn. Now that is a massive reform, a huge benefit, but it's also fair because not only does it mean that 94 per cent of Australians won't have to pay more 32.5 cents for an extra dollar. But it also means that those Australians who are earning more than $200,000 will actually pay a higher percentage of total income tax receipts than they do today. So it is both.
It's certainly a progressive tax system but it is a much fairer one and one that provide, doesn't provide, those disincentives that the current system does. So this is a very big tax reform over the seven years, provides immediate tax relief now, which is very important, and it provides very substantial reform over the seven years.
What do Australians expect us to do here? Do they expect us just to govern for next week, next month, next year? They want long term planning and investment and reform and that is what we're delivering. So thank you all very much. Have a great day.